Rainy season: Tips to protect yourself from rats

The rats probably top the list of most hated pests by humans. Their characteristic sounds, their rapid movements and the disaster they leave after their passage make us feel fear and repulsion just by thinking about them. Their uncontrolled reproduction – they give birth to between 4 and 12 offspring up to 7 times per year – is also a public health problem, especially in the rainy season.

Why? Very simple. Rainwater is essential for urban rats to grow and reproduce, but when this water is abundant and generates floods like the ones we have seen with the “Cold Drop” these weeks in several autonomous communities in Spain, rats can invade our homes to provide shelter and food.

Once in our homes, rodents damage insulation, walls, electrical cables, and floors, destroy retaining walls when burrowing and contaminate everything they touch. Unusual noises, nibbled food, and objects, dark droppings, burrow holes and ammonia smell in enclosed spaces are the first symptoms of the existence of these intelligent rodents that are also able to play hide-and-seek with us.

Recall that the rats were the great transmitters of the black plague that killed 50 million Europeans in the fourteenth century, but also cause leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and tuberculosis, among other important diseases.

From Rentokil Initial we are aware of this and the importance of maintaining your health, that of your family members and that of your pets.

10 Tips to prevent the entry of rats into the home:

Remove food scraps

Store food in sealed containers and place them in hard-to-reach places.

Recurring household cleaning

Close trash bins

Reduce the number of spaces in which rodents can hide

Avoid the accumulation of water after the rains and repair any leaks

Empty pet food containers regularly

Seal the openings with a diameter greater than 0.5 cm, as they could function as an access point to the house

Avoid the accumulation of boxes and packaging

Avoid weed proliferation in gardens

But if you already know that you have these undesirable visitors at home, you should resort to baits, arranged in rat traps or in portacebo stations. From Rentokil Initial we have different models of safety glass holders – made of plastic and metal – that guarantee that the bait will be available only to the rodent at the required time.

To increase protection, we have also created the Standard detachable device, which is installed inside the safety holders to allow them to open only when the motion sensors detect the presence of rodents.